Villagers for Veterans will host 5K run/walk and dinner next month

Villages for Veterans will be hosting The Run Forrest Run 5K and “An Evening with Forrest” Oct. 22 to raise money for the Gary Sinise Foundation, which supports wounded veterans with homes and other necessities.

The Run Forrest Run 5K will take place at The Villages Polo Field from 8 a.m.to 1 p.m. “An Evening with Forrest” will be held at the Eisenhower Recreation Center from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. later that same Saturday.

The 5K event, which is open to Villagers and non-Villagers alike, will include live entertainment, food trucks and other entertainment for the whole family. The race will start promptly at 9 a.m.

Registration for the race will take place from 8 a.m. to 8:50 a.m. Adult pre-registration is $25. After Sept. 30, registration will be $30. Registration fees on the day of the event will be $40.

A $5 discount will apply to runners 18 and younger and veterans with military ID.

Following the race at 5:30 p.m. is another Forrest Gump themed event. “An Evening with Forrest” will be a southern-style sit-down dinner with musical entertainment, Forrest Gump impersonations, short skits and photo opportunities.

The cost for the dinner will be $75 per person.

All proceeds from both events will go towards the Gary Sinise Foundation to help provide homes, devices and other vehicles for wounded veterans’ “mobility and independence,” according to the events’ coordinator Marie Bogdonoff.

Jared Bullock, shown here with his family, will attend the Villagers for Veterans events next month.

Jared Bullock, a veteran whom the foundation is providing a smart home, will attend both events with his family. According to the GSF’s website, Bullock, deployed to Afghanistan where his “ATV ran over an improvised explosive device,” causing him to become a double amputee.

Through the veterans group’s efforts, Bogdonoff said that they have raised over $300,000 “since its first fundraiser back in April 2014,” providing all terrain chairs and two service dogs.